Waiting For Sesshoumaru sama
by FieryFaerie
Summary: Right in the middle of a battle, Jaken finds himself on the banks of a river with a very interesting companion.


**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha isn't mine!

Written for manonlechat in the July round at iy-flashfic on livejournal!

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One moment he was fighting alongside the others, brandishing the Staff of Two Heads at several of Naraku's uglier detachments, and then he was sitting on a grassy riverbank, and the Staff of Two Heads was nowhere to be found. Jaken flailed for a moment, having difficulty finding his bearings, when he heard a female voice call to him from the opposite bank of the river.

"Jaken?" the voice asked, not sounding especially happy to see him. Jaken finally stopped flailing and shielded his eyes from the sun that was blocking his view of the woman on the opposite shore.

"Kagura?" he said with surprise, "What are you doing here? I thought that you were-"

"Dead?" Kagura laughed. "Yes, I'm dead. And if you're here, that must mean that you're dead as well." Jaken wasn't especially surprised, as he had been surrounded by nearly two dozen of Naraku's gross-looking…things…before he had been transported to…wherever they were.

"Oh," he said, shrugging, "I guess that explains it."

"You don't seem to be very upset about this," Kagura said, standing up and moving closer to her bank of the river, "most people completely freak out when they realize they're dead."

"Well, I'm not too worried about it…I _have_ died before, you know," Jaken said with a wave of his hand, "Sesshoumaru-sama will just bring me back."

"Ah, yes," Kagura said, mimicking Jaken's nonchalance, "Tenseiga. What makes you so sure that he'll bring you back this time? Are you really that important to him?"

"He-he'll bring me back because…I need to help fight Naraku," Jaken said shrilly, balling up his fists and clearly losing his confidence, "a-and I'm the best retainer Sesshoumaru-sama has…has _ever_ had!" Jaken crossed his arms in front of his chest and said a bit softer, "And…well…he's always done it before…"

"You know the sword doesn't always work, right?" Kagura asked, tiptoeing across the river on stones that poked out over the surface, "He tried to bring me back, you know, but Tenseiga wouldn't let him." Jaken was speechless for a moment, fists clenched so tight they were beginning to turn white…or at least a lighter shade of green, as Kagura seemed to almost float over to his bank of the river. He recoiled slightly when she sat down.

"B-b-but…why would Sesshoumaru-sama try to revive _you_?" Jaken stammered, pointing at Kagura incredulously, "…you're…you're one of Naraku's detachments, aren't you?" Kagura laughed and shrugged.

"I suppose he just felt sorry for me. Or something." She pulled her fan out of a sleeve and bopped Jaken on the head with it, "And I'm not part of Naraku anymore. He set me free before I died." Kagura smiled and her eyes glazed over a bit as she stared into the sun, which was beginning to set, "I am the free wind."

"Oh really?" said Jaken, rubbing his head and pushing Kagura gently towards the river, "if you're the free wind, then how come you're hanging around here instead of…blowing stuff around?"

"I did that for awhile," Kagura mused, the corners of her lips upturning slightly, "but there are only so many times you can try to blow Sesshoumaru-sama's clothes off before he starts to notice." Jaken stared at her, horrified. "What? Like you wouldn't have done the same thing? Anyway, I could tell he was getting annoyed, so I came here to wait."

"How could you tell he was annoyed?" Jaken asked, doubtful that Kagura could even feign to accurately interpret the moods of the enigma that was Sesshoumaru. Kagura laughed again.

"When Sesshoumaru-sama is annoyed his eyebrows move closer to one another just a fraction of a hair, and his shoulders tense up slightly…although his shoulders are usually quite tense as it is."

"How do you…" Jaken's eyes were wide.

"I watched him a lot. Both before and after I died." Kagura shrugged, then poked Jaken again with her fan. "And when he's happy?" Jaken puffed up his chest, the corners of his beakish mouth upturned into something resembling a smile.

"When Sesshoumaru-sama is happy his shoulders relax a bit, and his ears move back ever so slightly, as if he were smiling, even though he's not."

"Yes! And when he's aroused, he-" Jaken flailed and screamed and nearly toppled into the river, before righting himself and insisting that Kagura be quiet right that instant. Kagura bit back a laugh and brushed a bit of dirt off of the imp's shoulder.

The two sat in silence for a few more minutes, and watched the sun go down over their little river, thousands of stars suddenly filling the night sky.

"It's been quite a while," Kagura finally whispered.

"Yes," Jaken said, his voice a bit hoarse.

"I'm sure he tried to-"

"Yes, he probably did." Jaken felt the first pangs of sadness pull at his heart. "What do we do now?" he whispered.

"You can wait with me," Kagura answered, dipping her toes into the river, which was sparkling with the light of the crescent moon.

"Wait for what?" Jaken asked, scooting a bit closer to the river so he could dip his own feet in the cool water.

"For Sesshoumaru-sama, of course," Kagura said, and Jaken could tell she was smiling, even though she wasn't looking at him. "I figure Rin will come first…we'll have to wait awhile…but he'll come. He'll come for us."

"Yes," Jaken said with a smile, "he'll come for us."


End file.
